Integrated into
Expeditionary Learning
Grades 6-8
Positioning
ELLs/bilingual learners
at the core of the Core
Rebecca Field, Ph.D.
Director, Language in Education Division
Caslon Publishing and Consulting
[email protected]
Integrated into Expeditionary
Learning Grades 6-8
Big Ideas
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English language learners are everyone’s
responsibility.
Administrators, teachers, and leadership teams
are powerful agents for change.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to educating
ELLs/bilingual learners.
Effective educational leaders use sound theory,
core principles, flexible frameworks, guiding
questions, and defensible evidence to inform their
decisionmaking about equity for ELLs/bilingual
learners in their schools.
Students first.
Integrated into Expeditionary Learning
Grades 6-8
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to…
 Describe student performance indicators for specific ELLs/bilingual
learners at different levels of new (i.e., English) and home language
development.
 Identify additional scaffolds that teachers can use to build on what
ELLs/bilingual learners can do with their new and home languages
and support student engagement in ELA classes.
 Explain how teachers can tier the task, not the text so that all
students—particularly ELLs/bilingual learners—can participate and
achieve in ELA classes.
 Use the New and Home Language Arts Progressions that the New
York Bilingual Common Core Initiative is developing.
Note: Learning objectives are the same for all participants/students
Integrated into Expeditionary Learning
Grades 6-8
Language Objectives
Participants will be able to…
 Use content-obligatory and content-compatible vocabulary orally
and in writing
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Conversational language, academic language
Additive bilingualism, subtractive bilingualism
ELL, emergent bilingual, bilingual learner
Sheltering instruction, differentiating instruction and assessment
New Language Arts Progressions
 Home Language Arts Progressions
 Student performance indicators
Use oral and written language to describe, identify, explain
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NOTE: Language objectives are differentiated according to level of
new and home language development and other background factors
Integrated into Expeditionary
Learning Grades 6-8
Essential Questions for
Reflective Practitioners
1.
Who are our students?
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2.
What are our long-term and short-term learning and language
development targets and objectives?
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3.
Content/literacy/new and home language development
What strategies can we use to ensure that all of our students can engage
with the activities we organize in our classes?
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6.
Content/literacy/new and home language development
What is likely to be challenging for our students relative to our targets and
objectives?
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5.
Content/literacy/new and home language development
What can our students do relative to our targets and objectives?
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4.
English language learners/bilingual learners/all students
Levels of new language progressions, home language progressions, literacy
Prior schooling, cultural considerations
Differentiate according to new and home language and other background factors
How can we assess our students’ performance relative to our targets and
objectives?
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Content/literacy/new and home language development
What kinds of language choices
do teachers make every day?
Which languages or varieties can
I use in the classroom for what
purposes?
How can I structure opportunities
for oral and written language use
in the activities I organize in the
classroom?
How do I represent and evaluate
the identities and perspectives of
my students in the content and
materials I use in the classroom?
All teachers make
decisions about the
ways they use
languages in class. ..
What principles can
teachers use to guide
their decision-making
about additional
scaffolds for the
ELLs/bilingual learners in
their classes?
Guiding principles
Striving for equity: Create school environments where each
individual feels valued and respected.
Promoting additive
bi/multilingualism:
View language
minority students’
home language or
languages as
resources for
teaching and
learning.
Affirming identities: Validate
diverse cultural experiences in
school policies and classroom
practices.
Structuring for integration:
Establish inclusive policies
and practices that
encourage equal-status
relationships among and
participation by different
constituencies.
It’s always a balancing act…
Go to de Jong (2012, pp.144-146 for more). See also De Jong, Ester (2011).
Foundations for Multilingualism in Education. Philadelphia: Caslon.
Integrated into Expeditionary Learning
Grades 6-8
1. Who are the ELLs/bilingual learners in my class?
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Marco is an Entering ELL from the Dominican Republic who speaks Spanish. Marco arrived in the United
States earlier this year. The ESL teacher determined informally that Marco can read and write in Spanish,
but probably below grade level. According to a common formative assessment conducted by the
teacher, Marco is Entering in Listening, Entering in Speaking, Entering in Reading, and Entering in Writing
in English.
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Damaris is a Transitioning ELL who was born in the continental United States into a Puerto Rican family
that speaks mostly Spanish at home and in the neighborhood. Damaris has attended school in the US
since kindergarten, and she has been in pull-out ESL each year. There is no bilingual program at the
school, and Damaris has not learned to read and write in Spanish. According to a common formative
assessment conducted by the teacher, Damaris is Commanding in Listening, Expanding in Speaking,
Transitioning in Reading, and Emerging in Writing in English.
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Ko Than Nu is a Transitioning ELL from Burma who speaks Karen. Ko Than Nu is a refugee and has been in
the United States for two years. He had no formal schooling before coming to the United States, nor had
he learned to read or write. When Ko Than Nu arrived, he was placed in a newcomer/port of entry
class that focused on literacy and numeracy development, with attention to the cultural norms of US
schools and society. According to a common formative assessment conducted by the teacher, Ko
Than Nu is Expanding in Listening and Speaking, and Emerging in Reading and Writing in English.
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Tasfiah is a Transitioning ELL from Bangladesh who speaks Bengali. Tasfiah arrived in the United States in
the middle of last year. She has a strong educational background which included English instruction
every year in Bangladesh. However, Tasfiah’s English instruction gave her little opportunity to speak
English at school, and she has had little exposure to American English prior to her arrival. According to a
common formative assessment conducted by the teacher, Tasfiah is Emerging in Listening, Entering in
Speaking, Commanding in Reading, and Expanding in Writing in English.
Go to Funk, Alexander (2012). The Languages of New York : A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators. New York: CUNY-NYSIEB.
For more on Spanish, pp. 151-167; Karen, pp. 111-122; Bengali, pp. 25-36)
Integrated into Expeditionary Learning
Grades 6-8
2. What are our long-term and short-term learning targets?
Step 1: What standards are addressed in this module?
Example: Grade 7, Module 1: Unit 1 Lessons 10-12
Focus on the activity level
How are students
expected to use oral
and written language to
participate in these
activities?
3a. What can our students do with their new language (i.e., English) relative to
the linguistic demands of the core standards?
3b. What can our bilingual learners do with their home languages?
Think-pair-share
• What are the grade-level academic demands of this activity
sequence?
• What are the linguistic demands of this activity sequence?
• Look at page 5 of your handout: What can our ELLs do with their
new language (i.e., English) relative to the linguistic demands of this
activity?
• Look at page 6 of your handout: What can our bilingual learners do
with their home languages relative to the linguistic demands of this
activity?
4. What is likely to be challenging for our students in
this activity sequence?
Flexible frameworks
5. What strategies can we use to ensure that all students
engage with the activities we organize in our classes?
Use the differentiating instruction and assessment template to
select additional scaffolds and supports.
NY Bilingual Common Core Initiative: Sample
Additional
scaffolds to
support
listening
during
read
alouds
NY Bilingual Common Core Initiative: Sample
Common Core Grade 6 Standard (RI.6.3)
continued
Entering
Additional
scaffolds to
support
speaking
during turn
and talk
about texts
Emerging
Transitioning
Expanding
Commanding
NY Bilingual Common Core Initiative: Sample
New Language Arts Progressions
Common Core Grade 6 Standard (RI.6.3) continued
Academic language is about much more than vocabulary…
Language objectives: Students will use oral and written language to
explain cause and effect relationships.
Revisiting the essential questions
for reflective practitioners
1. Who are our students?
Each pair selects one of the four ELLs profiled on p. 2 as your focal student.
2. What are the targets (at the unit level) and objectives (at the activity level)?
Identify grade level academic and linguistic demands of the focal activity.
Why?
Cause
and effect
language
3. What can our students do relative to our targets and objectives?
Go to pps. 5-6. Describe the kinds of student performance you can expect from your focal
student relative to the academic and linguistic demands of the focal activity in English (their new
language) and in their home language.
4. What is likely to be challenging for our students relative to our targets and objectives?
Be as specific as you can.
5. What additional scaffolds can we use to ensure that all of our students can engage with the
activities we organize in our classes?
Go to the new language arts and home language arts progressions. See also p. 4.
6. How can we assess our students’ performance relative to our targets and
objectives?
Identify specific formative assessment strategies you can use to gather information about what
students can do. Explain how you will use that information (evidence of student performance) to
guide your decisions about instruction.
Pulling it all together…
Additional Scaffolds and Supports
To be selected according to student level of new and home language arts progressions.
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Provide pre-identified key words, sentences, and phrases, word banks or glossaries. Provide
sentence starters, cloze-type procedures, graphic organizers (modeled, partially completed), and
notemaking guides. Use partnership and small-group discussions. Allow students to meet the
standard in new or home language, especially in the early stages.
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Home language as a resource
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Go to www.nysieb.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2012/07/NYSLanguageProfiles.pdf to download The
Languages of New York State: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators. This guide provides a
description of the top ten languages spoken by emergent bilinguals in addition to English. These
descriptions include a brief history of the language, the cultures of the people who speak the
language, and their experiences in New York State. It also includes some basic structural features
of the languages as well as cognates and basic phrases.
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In Hamayan & Freeman Field (2012): Go to Cummins, pp. 140-144 for description of “identity texts”;
Kerper Mora, pp. 182-183 for description of why and how to “teach for transfer”; Freeman and
Freeman, pp. 212-213 for description of “preview-view-review”.
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Go to http://www.thornwoodps.ca/dual/weblinks.htm for examples of dual language books.
Closing reflections
1.
2.
3.
4.
What stood out?
What did you learn?
What can you use?
What questions do you have?